Fate And A Worthy Cause

One thing I felt was an important thing to do whilst building up PN2 was to find a way to give back to those who don’t have the same opportunities or support as I’ve had in the past.

I’ve already mentioned on Twitter how I’ll be doing a marathon live stream later this year for Extra Life, a fundraiser aimed specifically at children’s hospitals around the world. But one thing that bothered me was the lack of Australian hospitals included in EL. I wanted to be able to give back to my own, home town hospital.

Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, right here in Perth, has had a long standing level of support within the community. Telethon, run statewide by Channel Seven among others, raises millions each year for the Hospital and the kids within. It’s always been something special, to be able to give back and have fun while doing it. I remember staying up late when I was younger to watch the live broadcast of the Telethon on TV, that was always a highlight.

So there Adele and I were, sorting out our ideas for Extra Life (and other charities for the future), and I was honestly bummed out that I couldn’t include Princess Margaret as my chosen place to send my donations to. It would have been special, as our first proper charity event, to do so.

It’s well past midnight now as I type this, but I happened to open up twitter one last time before going to bed, and low and behold I came across something awesome. I had a new follower on Twitter, Aussie Game 4 Life. Curious, I clicked on to find out what that was all about. Five minutes later, and I donated straight away.

Opened by Luke Brook, Game 4 Life aims to do the very same thing Extra Life has done for hospitals around the US and the world, except focusing its efforts specifically to Princess Margaret itself. Having gone through a harrowing yet eye opening experience with their own child Cooper, spending most of his early life in the hospital having been born severely under-developed, Luke and his partner opened the foundation in part to say thank you.

As Luke wrote on his Pozible campaign page, aiming to raise money to open the fund, “Every day premature babies are born, and every day children are admitted to hospital due to accidents, illness or disease. We are fortunate enough to have access to high quality, accessible health care, and we want to keep it that way.”

I’m happy to say that the initial $1,500 needed to launch the fundraising initiative has just been passed, meaning it will go ahead this year and hopefully for many more years to come. I couldn’t be more excited and honoured not only to have come across Game 4 Life but to be a Pozible donator, ensuring the fundraiser reaches its goals.

You can’t say this isn’t fate. To be looking for somewhere local to donate to via my silly little gaming skills, only for the very thing I was hoping to find to find me on Twitter itself. It’s a match made in heaven. Maybe some day I’ll get to meet Luke and his family and say hi, now that would be a day to remember.

You can help too. Donations to the Pozible campaign will help to pay for the costs of setting the foundations roots. Then keep an eye out, I’ll be sure to pass on details when it goes live.